Qualifying the Increased Mortality Risk Resulting from Metabolic Syndrome and Sarcopenia

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Metabolic syndrome is the precursor to type 2 diabetes, and a direct consequence of being sufficiently overweight to experience the necessary disruptions to metabolism. Sarcopenia is the name given to severe loss of muscle mass and strength when it occurs in older people, though it is worth noting that these losses are universal. While a sizable fraction of the muscle atrophy observed in wealthier regions of the world results from a sedentary lifestyle, the other underlying causes resulting from aging occur for everyone. Everyone would reach a state of sarcopenia eventually, if they did not first die due to some other consequence of degenerative aging.

Since sarcopenia is in part driven by chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation is characteristic of metabolic syndrome, these two conditions can coexist. In today's open access paper, epidemiologists examine data obtained for this patient population in order to quantify the excess mortality risk that these individuals experience as a result of (a) the underlying damage and dysfunction that contributes to these conditions, and (b) the secondary dysfunctions and further damage resulting from these conditions.

Additive impact of metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia on all-cause and cause-specific mortality: an analysis of NHANES

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and sarcopenia (SP) are increasingly significant public health issues in aging societies, sharing common pathophysiological mechanisms and being associated with severe health consequences. This study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 1999 and 2018. Mortality data were obtained from the National Death Index up to December 2019. Among the 21,962 participants, 61.5% had neither MetS nor SP (MetS-/SP-), 24.6% had MetS only (MetS+/SP-), 12.2% had SP only (MetS-/SP+), and 1.5% had both MetS and SP(MetS+/SP+).

Compared to the group without MetS and SP, the groups with MetS only, SP only, and both MetS and SP showed increased all-cause mortality, with adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of 1.23, 1.63, and 1.61, respectively. The MetS+/SP+ group had the highest overall mortality risk. For cause-specific mortality, the MetS+/SP+ group exhibited increased cardiovascular mortality (HR: 1.89), cardiac mortality (HR: 1.89), respiratory mortality (HR: 2.63), and diabetes mortality (HR: 8.79) compared to the group without MetS and SP.